While oral rehydration solutions are needed year-round for sick calves, they are also a very acceptable practice to implement as part of your heat abatement program for youngstock. Offering plenty of fresh, clean water, as well as adequate shade and ventilation, will reduce the chances for calves to succumb to heat stress. Sometimes the total heat index (THI) becomes too high for even the aforementioned management practices to keep calves cool. Providing a feeding of electrolyte solution, usually mid-day, will add important nutrients back into the bloodstream for cellular balance and help fend off dehydration. Heat-stressed calves are lethargic, have a high respiration rate, and tend to have decreased appetites. Even slight discomfort due to high temperatures and humidity can have costly effects on a calf’s immune system and productivity. Preventing growth and feed efficiency losses from hot summer days will ensure your calves can remain profitable members of the herd. Dairy Herd Management wrote an article that is a great reminder of the type of ingredients to look for in electrolytes to provide the best opportunity for proper rehydration. Click here to read the article. Summer is just beyond the horizon; talk to your local ANC Independent Consultant to make sure your protocols are updated to include dehydration prevention and rehydration therapy for heat-stressed calves. ...

Dan, Marie, Brett and Greta Weis from Weis-Way Dairy certainly know how to utilize all of their homegrown forages. They have been on the ANC program for more than two years, working with Scott Bascom, ANC’s Director of Technical Services, and have implemented a high forage diet for their dairy cows. Over 80% of the dry matter in the Weis-Way ration is forage. The diet consists of baleage, corn silage, dry hay, liquid molasses and a supplement mix. High quality corn silage is the predominant ingredient in the ration. On this customized high forage diet, the cows seem to be eating more and are milking excellent. The top cow is milking close to 150 lbs. per day. The tank average is consistently 75 lbs. of milk, with 4.1% fat and 3.25% protein. “Evidently you can make milk on forage!” exclaimed Dan Weis, owner of Weis-Way Dairy. “The price of grain was high, so we decided to switch to a high forage diet, and it worked! Milk has been going up, and the manure has probably been the most consistent we’ve seen in two years,” explained Dan. The Weis’ have adequate acreage to grow more forage than their cows can consume, so they were a perfect candidate for a high forage diet. Cows are ruminants and are capable of consuming large quantities of forage. Typically, the diet of lactating cows will contain 50-55% of the dry matter from forage. The level of fiber (NDF) and the digestibility of the fiber, determine how much forage cows can consume before they are too full to eat more. When high quality, highly digestible...

Veterinarians at the University of Wisconsin have been studying the design of footbaths. They have discovered that footbaths with the following dimensions guarantee that cows will dunk their feet 2 to 3 times in the solution when they pass through: Baths that are 12 feet long. Baths with sides that are 36 inches high, 36 inches wide at the top and 20 inches wide at the bottom creating a “V” shape Baths with a curb that is 12 inches high at the entrance and exit point. They also recommend solid side walls to keep the cows moving through the footbath. For more information check out this article on “Better Footbaths” on agweb.com, or contact your ANC consultant. ...

Agri-Nutrition Consulting held its Spring National Sales Meeting Thursday, April 4 and Friday, April 5 at its office in DeForest, WI and at the UW-Madison Arlington Agricultural Research Station. ANC office staff and independent consultants from around the nation participated in numerous seminars and workshops on topics from social media to forage management, and from dairy beef to calf nutrition. Keynote speaker Dr. Lance Fox shared an inspirational message in his presentation, “No Place But Up.” The meeting closed with a hands-on forage management workshop at Arlington Research Station followed with a tour of the facility. A complete agenda is listed below along with photos showcasing our learning experiences this week! Thursday, April 4 Team Building Exercise with Sara Hendrickson, Ration Analyst Growing Your Bottom Line with Dairy Beef with Dan Wickersham (Form-A-Feed) ANC Consultant Success Stories with Al Nicolai, National Sales Manager Accounting Updates with Carol Chesemore, Accountant Marketing Updates and Social Media with Connie Eibergen, Marketing Coordinator and Heather Hunt, Dairy Technical Specialist 5 C’s of Calf Nutrition with Dr. Lance Fox CSI – Cow Side Investigation with Tom Lorenzen Fastest Horses, Growing Our Business with John Windwehen (Form-A-Feed) No Place But Up with Lance Fox Friday, April 5 A Bug’s Life: How We Can Manage the Rumen to Maximize Performance with Dr. Grant Crawford (Form-A-Feed) ANC’s Forage Management Program with Stephanie Jens (Lallemand) and Dr. Scott Bascom, Director of Technical Services Hands-on Forage Management at Arlington Research Facility with Stephanie Jens Tour of Arlington Research Facility with Sara Hendrickson Photos from the Hands-on Forage Management seminar and Arlington Research Facility tour are below in the...

“A lot of things come out of necessity,” says Rob Bailey, Founder of Agri-Nutrition Consulting (ANC). One of these things for Rob was ANC, which he started in the spring of 1987. Rob started ANC on the principles of providing animal nutrition to help keep cattle healthy. His interest in animal nutrition was sparked from growing up on a dairy farm. “I remember way back as a kid feeding cows and my dad had cow cards hanging above the cows showing how to feed each one differently.” Rob says his dad was innovative in feeding cows individually. By working with his dad, he acquired a strong crops and dairy background. This inspired Rob to attend college at the University of Wisconsin – Platteville and eventually start his own company, ANC. At first, Rob’s own network and contacts helped him develop and grow ANC. He did the rations, acted as a consultant, served as regional manager, performed secretarial duties and wrote articles. ANC’s program has focused on herd health from the beginning. “It was my goal to make a program that fit what the cows told us,” Rob explains. He worked hard to develop a nutritionally-sound program with good returns for the farmers. Around that same time, Ken Sletten (current Vice President) approached Rob about joining ANC. Rob had worked with Ken at a previous company. While Rob did not necessarily have the extra money, he had faith in Ken and his company to achieve the required growth to support the addition of more employees. Ken became sales manager and was influential in helping the company prosper in the beginning,...